Baron
Munchausen, whose full name was Karl Friedrich Hieronymous
von Munchausen, lived from 1720 to 1797. He served as a
cavalry captain with a Russian regiment in two Turkish wars,
and was known during his lifetime as an excellent raconteur
of tales about war, hunting and travel
adventures.

From 1781 to 1783 a
collection of such tales was published, with authorship
generally attributed to the baron. An English version of the
tales was published in 1785 under the title Baron
Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and
Campaigns in Russia. Only years later in 1824 was it
revealed that the author of the English edition was Rudolph
Erich Raspe (1737-1794). Other authors used these stories as
source material to exaggerate still further or to compose
other tall tales of a similar mode. Gradually Munchhausen's
name became associated with the amusingly preposterous story
or the lie winningly told.

More recently, Terry Gilliam
of Monty Python fame wrote and directed the 1988 movie, The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen, based on the baron's
exploits. An earlier film, Baron Munchausen, was produced in
1943 and was only the fourth color film produced in
Germany.

The baron also left his mark
in medical circles. The Munchausen syndrome, named after
him, is defined as a condition characterized by the feigning
of the symptoms of a disease or injury in order to undergo
diagnostic tests, hospitalization, or medical or surgical
treatment .

Card 1 shows Munchausen's
bust and the other 9 cards illustrate some of his exploits.
The reverse side of each card has a 24-line verse telling
how the Little Joker accompanied the baron on his journeys,
giving him advice and showing him how to get out of scrapes.
The object the Little Joker carries appears to be a pipe
with a hinged cover (see card 7).

The scarcity of these cards,
particularly card 1, makes it very challenging to put
together a complete set.